Alaska earthquakes

M2.8 earthquake 38 km S of False Pass, Alaska

A magnitude 2.8 earthquake struck 38 km S of False Pass, Alaska on Thu, May 12, 2016, 4:38 AM AKDT (12:38 UTC), 78 km (48 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M4.6 Unimak Island region, Alaska. This one was a foreshock.

King Cove forecast More in Alaska

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 2.8 (ML, local (Richter)), micro
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Thu, May 12, 2016, 4:38 AM AKDT
UTC: 2016-05-12 12:38:11 UTC
Depth: 77.6 km (48.2 mi), intermediate-depth
Epicenter: 54.513° N, 163.334° W
Region: Alaska
Tsunami flag: No
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Magnitude estimates

Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.

Mag.	Scale	Computed by	Notes
2.8	ML, local (Richter)	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · 28 stations
2.8	ML, local (Richter)	Alaska Earthquake Center	Preliminary

Did you feel it?

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 6.8 km horizontally, 7.2 km in depth
Stations used: 28

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

King Cove, AlaskaPopulation 1,009. Forecast89 kmSW

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 73 in the 60 days after this one and 18 in the 30 days before it.

After

The first 60 of 73.

Before

Earthquakes today Alaska earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us10005iag (also filed as ak13559589, ak016645uj20). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 1:23 PM UTC.